Grain scalping mechanism



c. c. GRAY ET AL GRAIN SCALPING MECHANISM Original Filed May 24, 1950 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 CARL C, GRAY INVENTORS HARRYLUJOH/VSON BY 2 ATTONEY 5, 3 c. c. GRAY ET AL GRAIN SCALPING' MECHANISM Original Filed May 24, 1930 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Patented Feb. 5, 1935 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE GRAIN SCALPING' MECHANISM Carl 0. Gray, Minneapolis, and Harry L. Johnson, St. Paul, Minn.

17 Claims.

This invention relates to grain cleaning .or treating machinery and'the. main object is to :provide an improved, efficient, and practical construction of scalper unit, for removing relative- 1y large objects, such as sticks, cobs, stones, etc.,

: from abody of grain before such grain is subjectedto further. separation or cleaning in other forms of treatingmachinery. Other andmore specific objects will appear and be set forth in detail as the specification progresses.

:The present application is a division of our copending application Ser. No."455,233, filed May 24, 1930, for Grain scalping and aspirating machina-and while, as in the parent application, the present scalping unit is disclosed in connection with other machineparts, it is to be understood that it'is capable of use as an independent unit.

In the accompanying' drawings:

Fig. 1 is-a sectional elevation of our improved scalping mechanismpas seen in the line 1-1 as appearing in either of Figs.'2 or 3, this figure being substantially identical with Fig.4 as appearing in the: drawingsof' the above noted parent application.

"Fig. 2 isan elevation, as seen from therright in Fig.1 1, and corresponds to the subject matter disclosedmat the. left end ofEFigJIO in the parent aplication.

.Fig..-i3 is a horizontal sectional plan view as seen onthe line -3--3 appearing in both :Figs; 1 .andri2, this view'. being identical with' the corresponding subjectmatter shown inFig. 6 of the parent case.

'Referringto the-drawings more particularly and: by reference characters, A, Band .C desig- -nate :outer. associated housings; for enclosing variouszwvorkingparts of the machine, and thefirst of these contains the mechanism with which the present tinvention is .:primarily concerned. At .whatmay. be conveniently referred to as the front -ofitheimachinet the housing A is provided with a .hoppenDinto'whi'ch is placed the grain that is to: begscalped'before being transferred to the as- .pirating and cleaning mechanisms :.contained in gthehousings B and C.

Thehopper D is defined by upper, spaced side 'walls inclining inwardly'as at 5, and thence downwardly as at 6, to; meet an inclined bottom '7 which inturn has aniupper vertical section 8. :This arrangement'causesmaterial placed in the hopper tojilow down, under the action of gravity, into a'scalping chamber. E, having a pair of spaced perforated disks 9 rotatable therein. An arcuate ;plate1section 1'0, ofthe housing A, is disposed over rthediskse, and slidably supports' an arcuate gate 11, which gate defines a rear grain supporting wall of the hopper. The gate 11 has a toothed rack 12 meshing with a pinion 13 on a shaft 14, and a projecting end of this shaft has a small hand wheel 15 (Fig. 2) by which it may be turned. A friction device 16 may be employed to releasably secure the shaft in adjusted positions. It will thus' be seen that by turning the hand wheel 15 the lower end of the gate 11 may be raised or lowered to correspondingly increase or decrease the flow of material from the hopper D to the scalping chamber E.

A shaft 17 extends through the entire machine tobe rotated by a source of power (not shown) and operates through sprocket pinions 18 and chain 19 to'drive a shaft 20 which also extends into other housings in connection with the operation of other mechanisms not here of consequence. As far as the present invention is concerned the shaft 20 might be nonrotatable as its primary function is to provide a trunnion support'for the disks 9.

The shaft 17 has a second sprocket pinion, 21, .for driving a chain 22 that passes over a gear 23 on'a shaft 24 and over a gear 25 rotatable on the shaft 20, as more clearly shown in Fig.5 of the parent application. The gear 25 is also immaterial to a consideration of the present invention but the showing of the common drive chain 221s essential, as thedriven gear '23 operates through a' friction or slip clutch26 to drive the shaft 24. This clutch is normally held closed or in operative position by a spring 27, the tension'of which is adjustable by a pair of locknuts 28. Thus it will be seen that should the shaft 24 be subjected to apredetermined resistance the parts 1'7-23 may continue to move,'and therebyprevent any possibility of breakage or damage to the machine.

' The end of the shaft 24 opposite the clutch 26 has a pinion 29 meshing with a sprocket chain 30 to drive a sprocket gear 31 which operates a sleeve 32 which is free to rotate on the shaft '20 and has the disks 9 rigidly secured to itself. Thus the disks may rotate about the'shaft 20 and at a different speed with respect thereto. It may here also be noted that the disks are braced by being 'bolted to a pair of plates 33 from which they are spaced and which plates are also attached to and rotate with the sleeve 32.

The disks 9 are provided with profusely distributed perforations, many of which are omitted in Fig. l, and the purpose of these perforations is to-permit the passage, outwardly therethrough, of grainand small particles, while retaining the larger objectssuch as cobs, sticks, and stones,

between the disks. As the relatively small material is discharged laterally through the disks it falls down into a chamber 34 from whence it is conveyed by a feed screw 35 for further treatment or disposal. v

The chamber E is defined in part by the perforated disks 9, and parts 10 and 11, but further includes a bottom plate 36, a spreader 3'7, and a retarder 38 carried by a transverse partition member 39.

The plate or partition 39 has a centrally disposed reinforcing flange 40 secured to a collar 41, rotatable on the sleeve 32. At its upper end the member 39-40 has a link 42 connecting it to the plate 10 so as to prevent rotation of the device 3840 with the sleeve 32. In order to establish close contact between the disks 9 and the,

plate 39 the sides of the latter are preferably provided with a pair of flexible contact strips 43 which engage or brush against the inner faces of the perforated disks as they rotate.

The retarder plate 38 is attached to the lower end of the stationary plate 39, as at 44, and. its lower end has a V-shaped notch so as to more closely fit over the divider 3'7. The plate 38 is preferably formed of semi-flexible material and yieldingly'presses against the incoming fiow. of material under the action of a spring 45, which is coiled about the hub 41, with one in engagement against the plate 38, while the other is anchored, as at 46, to the flange or rib 40.

The delivery end of the spreader 3'7 terminates in a short chute 4'7, under a housing opening 48 through which the scalpings or large objects are discharged.

The operation of the scalping mechanism, as thus described, is as follows:

As the material to be treated is filled into the hopper D it flows down over the inclined floor plate 7, between the walls 6, and under the gate 11 into the chamber E as formed by the members 9, 36, 37, 38, and 39. The height of the grain body banked up against the member 3839 is determined by the position of the gate 11.. As the disks 9 are continually rotated, in the direction of the arrow in Fig. 1, the small particles such as the grain, dirt, dust, chaff, etc., pass outwardly through the profusely distributed perforations in the disks, While the larger objects, such as cobs, sticks, stones, etc., gradually settle f to the bottom and find their way out after passing under the retarder 38 to the opening 48 and chute 47. The ridged or tapered spreader -37 prevents the discharge of any grain, through the opening 48, that may have escaped under the retarder 38,

because it keeps such grain in contact with the two disks during the upward travel (from 38 to 47), and at such time the grain in question will rapidly fall out through the adjacent disk perforations.

7 As the grain (and other small particles) passes outwardly through the two disks 9 it falls down into the chamber 34 to be conveyed away by the. 1 conveyor screw 35.

. Should it occasionally happen that a stick, stone, or other object become lodged in such a manner asto lock the disks 9 against turning,

then no harm can result as the friction clutch 26 will permit of the necessary slippage so that other parts will not be damaged but will continue to move until the objectionable object is manually dislodged. V

It is understood that suitable modifications may be made in the structure as disclosed, provided such modifications come within the spirit sides of a grain receiving chamber, and out through which grain may pass to both sides from the chamber and a floor member disposed between bottom portions of the disks and having oppositely sloped surfaces for directing the grain in the chamber outwardly toward the respective disks.

2. A grain scalping mechanism comprising a pair of rotatable perforated disks forming the sides of a grain receiving chamber, a ridged floor member disposed between the lower portions of the disks, and a retarder member arranged between the disks over the fioor member.

3; A grain scalping mechanism comprising a grain receiving chamber having a rotatable perforated disk against one side of which the .grain'is filled, a retarder for banking the incoming grain up against the disk, and a sloping bottom memher for directing the grain toward thelower portion of the disk. T

4. A grain scalping mechanism comprising a grain receiving chamber having a rotatable perforated disk against one side of which the grain is filled, a retarder for banking the incoming grain up against the disk, said chamber having an opening for the discharge ofscalpings, a retarder associated with the disk, and an arcuate fioor member for-the chamber disposed under the retarder and having a surface sloping laterally toward the disk.

5. A scalping mechanism comprising a pair of spaced," perforated, rotatable disks adapted to receive grain therebetween, and means for banking the grain up between the disks including an upper relatively stationary member and a lower,"

yieldable retarder member.

,6. A scalping mechanism comprising a hopper, a pair of spaced, perforated disks, adapted to receive grain therebetween from the hopper, a nonrotatable grain banking device extending trans- '1 versely between the disks, and an adjustable device for controlling the flow of grain from the hopper.

'7. A grain scalping mechanism comprising a pair of spaced, rotatable, perforated disks forming the sides of a grain receiving chamber, a hopperfor supplying grain to the chamber, a non- .rotatable retarder element transversely disposed between the disks to effect a banking up of grain therebetween, said retarder element being yieldable in part to permit the passage thereunder of objects too large to pass through the disk perforations.

8. A grain scalping mechanism comprising a pair of spaced, rotatable, perforated'disks form ing the sides of a grain receiving chamber, a hopper for supplying grain to the chamber, a nontherebetween, said retarder element being yield- ,able in part to permit the passage thereunder of objects too large to pass through the disk perforations, and a spring member acting upon said flexible element part to yieldably retain it in operative position.

10. A grain scalping mechanism comprising a pair of spaced, rotatable, perforated disks forming the sides of a grain receiving chamber, a hopper for supplying grain to the chamber, a nonrotatable retarder element transversely disposed between the disks to effect a banking up of grain therebetween, and an adjustable gate for regulating the flow of grain from said hopper to said chamber.

11. A grain scalping mechanism comprising a pair of rotatable perforated disks forming the sides of a grain receiving chamber and through which grain may pass in opposite directions, means for supplying grain to the chamber, a nonrotatable retarder device extending transversely between and for banking the grain up against the disks, and means including a releasable drive clutch for rotating the disks.

12. A scalping mechanism comprising a housing having a supply hopper, a scalping chamber communicating with the hopper, a chamber under the scalping chamber to receive grain therefrom, and an outlet for the discharge of relatively large objects; said scalping chamber having a pair of spaced perforated disks between which the material is received from the hopper, and through the perforations of which grain may pass to the receiving chamber, and a yieldable partition element disposed between the disks to bank the incoming grain thereagainst.

13. A grain scalping mechanism comprising a pair of rotatable perforated disks forming the sides of a grain receiving chamber and out through which grain may pass to both sides from the chamber, and a stationary floor member disposed between bottom portions of the disks and having oppositely sloped surfaces for directing the grain in the chamber outwardly toward the respective disks.

14. A scalping mechanism comprising a pair of rotatable, spaced, parallel, perforated disks through which grain may pass outwardly in opposite directions, means for supplying grain to the space between the disks, and a non-rotatable relatively stationary member disposed transverse- 1y between the disks for banking the grain against downwardly moving disk areas.

15. In a scalping mechanism a chamber defined in part by a pair of spaced disks, means for feeding material into the chamber at a peripheral point between the disks, said chamber having a discharge opening at a peripheral point spaced from the first point, said disks being perforated to permit the passage of grain outwardly therethrough in opposite directions, and means for rotating the disks to facilitate such grain passage and actuate the scalpings from the first to the second mentioned of said points.

16. In a scalping mechanism a scalping chamber having a supply inlet, a grain outlet, and a scalping outlet, apair of spaced perforated disks in the chamber arranged to receive material peripherally from said supply inlet and to permit passage of the grain outwardly therethrough and to the grain outlet, means to rotate the disks to facilitate such grain passage and to eifect a movement of the scalpings towards said scalping outlet, said scalping outlet being arranged peripherally with respect to the disks.

1?. In a scalping mechanism a scalping chamber having a supply inlet, a grain outlet, and a scalping outlet, a pair of spaced perforated disks in the chamber arranged to receive material peripherally from said supply inlet and to permit passage of the grain outwardly therethrough and to the grain outlet, means to rotate the disks to facilitate such grain passage and to effect a movement of the scalpings towards said scalping outlet, said scalping outlet being arranged peripherally with respect to the disks, and a relatively stationary retarder wall disposed between the disks.

CARL C. GRAY.

HARRY L. JOHNSON. 

